Goodreads description: This is the captivating true story of the young Elizabeth I, as she struggles to survive the treacherous world of Tudor England. After the death of her father, Henry VIII, a young Elizabeth journeys to London to live with her father's widow, Katherine Parr, and her new husband, Thomas Seymour, brother-in-law to King Edward. Surrounded by malicious whisperings of her late mother's witchcraft, Elizabeth is desperate to escape suspicion and discover the truth about her mother. A young stranger asserting Anne's Boleyn's innocence sends her on search a that takes her on a dangerous midnight journey to Bedlam, the hospital for the insane, to meet her mother's former lady-in-waiting. This encounter changes the way she views her mother - and herself. Meanwhile, at home, Elizabeth's reputation is increasingly under threat, as her stepfather, Thomas Seymour makes unwanted advances toward her. Her stepmother witnesses a kiss and Elizabeth is sent back to Hertfordshire in disgrace. Here she falls seriously ill and rumours abound that she is hiding a pregnancy. When Thomas Seymour is arrested for treason in a plot to overthrow King Edward, Elizabeth is implicated by association. Now it is up to her to defend her integrity - and her life...From the author of the best-selling Raven Queen comes a new masterpiece of historical fiction.

I've read lots of books that include Elizabeth I, including her fictional diary in her teens but why I *love* he sound of this one is because it has a twist. That twist is the scandal that arose from rumours about Thomas Seymour and her as well as the interrogation she went through at Hatcliffe House.

I was lucky enough to meet the author, Pauline Francis when she visited my school today to present one of my friends with a certificate for winning the national Evan's short story competition that she wrote the starter for and did a talk to my year. I was very excited that she read an extract from the beginning of Traitor's Kiss because the description was really good and made me want to read it more.

The cover was revealed very recently and Pauline Francis bought in a cover jacket she got a few days ago to show us at school. I much prefer it than her other book covers for Raven Queen and A World Away because of the swirly gold writing against the rich purple background and the photo of a young Elizabeth. It's not one of my favourite recent covers but it's still really pretty.

The Traitor's Kiss is due to be released on July 1st 2011 by Usborne Publishing. I'll probably be pre-ordering it off Amazon!

I'm a teenage girl living who loves reading and thinks there's nothing better than curling with a good book. My favourite genre is YA historical fiction as I love to escape back into the past. You can find me at stephanie(dot)reads(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk